1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to self-healing and adaptive materials. Particularly, the invention is directed to materials which can alter their internal mass distribution in response to stress gradients in order to optimally utilize the available structural substance in critical areas subjected to stress and temperature rise.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Altering service environments as well as damaging effects change the stress distribution within structures. Biological systems such as bone are capable of adapting to changes in stress distribution through transport of substance towards and its deposition at highly stressed areas. This adaptive/self-healing capability enables biological structural systems make optimal use of available materials as new circumstances evolve. Various efforts have been made to develop synthetic materials which mimic the self-healing/adaptive qualities of biological systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,330 discloses a self-healing material with the polymeric healing agent stored in microspheres which are dispersed within the material systems. Damage (cracking) of the material would cause breakage of the microspheres and release of the healing agent, which fills the crack and rebonds the crack faces. U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,304 discloses self-healing coatings incorporating sacrificial constituents which react with oxygen at defects (e.g., cracks and voids) to produce compounds which condense on such defects and thereby restore the integrity of coating. U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,266 discloses a self-healing high-temperature materials incorporating constituents capable of reacting with oxygen to produce compounds to plug cracks and mitigate access of oxygen to the core of the material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,256 discloses a high-temperature material incorporating multiple constituents which, when exposed to the elevated service temperature at cracks, react with each other to produce compounds which seal the cracks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,664 discloses a material incorporating a viscous flowable constituent which can flow into defects to restore the integrity of the material.
The above inventions rely on damaging effects (e.g., cracks) to either release the healing agent or to promote chemical reactions (e.g., upon exposure to oxygen) which render self-healing and adaptive effects. Unlike the invention described herein, they do not rely on electrolytic mass transport to strengthen highly stressed areas, and they do not convert the destructive mechanical energy concentrated in critical areas to electrical potential and energy which guide and drive the self-healing/adaptive effects.